Category: Charter Schools

There are plenty of charter schools throughout America and most certainly in the state of New York. But how many actually push new ideas? Not only in the learning curriculum but also in the content that will help shape the educational experience. At a glance, one would see children reporting for school in uniform like any other public school. But a closer look at Success Academy reveals the network of schools to be anything but uniform and banal, backed up by empirical results.

Success Academy currently has 32 schools within its network; Of those 24 are elementary schools, seven are middle schools and one is a high school. There are plans for an additional 13 schools to open in the near future. Success Academy currently educates 9,000 students and with the impending expansion, that number could grow to 21,000. Those numbers are impressive considering the first school was established in 2006.

Expanding young minds with real life experience and courses beyond the norm. Other schools may have a Chess club, but how about an actual Chess curriculum? Success Academy brings in actual Chess experts to teach the students the basics of the game. Whether you’re a Chess advocate or not, you can’t deny the analytical skills required to play the game; Imagine how those new tools set young minds on fire and help them with problem-solving in Math, Writing and Scientific studies. In most Kindergarten classes blocks are a standard set piece. Success Academy takes building blocks and turns it into an introduction to architecture and public speaking. At Success Academy, the children break into small groups to first sketch the structure they wish to build. They are then set to the task of constructing the building. After completion of the project, one student then explains to the class exactly what the group has constructed, impressive and innovative to say the least.

It seems apparent that Success Academy has plotted a course towards a horizon of new ideas, in order to equip our young learners with all the tools they will need to accomplish their goals.